Invincible A New Beginning
by Rosa17
Summary: Third part of my Invincible story. Carter and Abby are now married, read to find out what happens next


Summary: The final part to my Invincible series, picks up just after part two ended. I must admit it is a bit angst ridden in places, but it's Carby after the wedding. Spoiler wise again if you are spoiler free, you may want to wait as I mention my past storylines in this a little. Should be okay after episode 8 or so in S10.

AN: There maybe a Brit phrase/word instead of American equivalent, sorry. Thank you to my one reviewer, at least I know one person read my sequel.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters etc. 

Rating: PG 13

Prologue

The man watched amazed as his son came into the world one dark night. The baby was perfect in every way. His wife exhausted smiled up at him and he softly kissed both of them.

Chapter 1

April 06

As soon as Abby reached the roof she sat in a hidden corner. She felt as though she was going to die. The pain was so intense and yet she knew she had to go on, that life went on. She sat on the floor, her knees drawn up as close as possible to her body, she hugged her arms tightly round them, with her head buried on her knees and she sobbed.

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'Where's Abby?' Carter asked as he came up to the admit desk.

'I thought you were off today' remarked Pratt

'I am. We're meeting for lunch'

'How sweet' said Chuny, smiling at Carter.

'Carter' Kerry stated 'As you're here, can you cover Luka?'

Carter pulled a face and Kerry continued 'It's only 'til 6, most of his shift has gone'

'I'm supposed to be meeting Abby for lunch'

'Abby, where is she?' Kerry responded

The staff at the admit desk looked at each other, no one had seen her for a while. Pratt had even taken a couple of her more urgent cases.

'She had to go do something' Neela finally offered

Kerry and Carter looked at her, expecting her to expand on this explanation. When she didn't reply Kerry asked 'What's so pressing that she just leaves halfway through her shift without telling anyone?'

Neela shook her head and said 'I'm not sure whether she has left the hospital, she just said to Dr Pratt she had to go do something'

'And this was?' Kerry pressed

'An hour or so ago' Pratt answered

Carter was looking puzzled wondering what had happened since he last saw Abby that morning.

'She didn't get a call from her Mom or anything?' he asked Randi

'No' she replied ' No calls for Abby, except when you called to tell her you loved her'

'Carter are you using the phone for unnecessary personal calls? There are people with more urgent business who need to contact us on the phone than you telling Abby you love her' Kerry reprimanded him.

Carter sighed and looked suitably apologetic.

'I guess I could work for a bit, she might show up in the meantime, where's Luka anyway?' Carter said

'Sam had the baby last night, just after midnight, two weeks early, but doing okay' Chuny told him.

'And everybody knows this?' Carter asked shaking his head slightly.

'Everyone on since the early hours of this morning' Randi informed him 'It's a boy, Janko Kovac apparently' she added.

Carter sighed as he bit his lip, digesting this latest piece of information.

'Um Kerry' he finally said 'I need to go look for Abby' and he headed for the stairs.

'Randi' Kerry barked 'Call Susan, tell her to get in now'

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It didn't take long for Carter to reach OB where he promptly ran into Luka in the corridor.

'Hey' they both said at more or less the same time.

'I hear congratulations are in order' Carter said

'Thank you' Luka replied

'How's Sam and the baby?'

'They're well, everything's fine' Luka told him with a grin on his face

'Good' Carter replied 'I'm looking for Abby, have you seen her today?'

Luka shook his head 'No, she hasn't been up'

Carter nodded and turned around.

'See you around' he said to Luka and walked back towards the stairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Carter emerged onto the roof, his eyes scanned round for Abby, whom he couldn't see. He walked around a bit and then heard the muffled sounds of crying, in the corner tucked away from the rest of the roof. Following the sounds he finally spotted Abby.

He sat down facing her and took her into his arms, she was rather resistant at first, but when he spoke her name she relaxed at little. Her sobs had ebbed somewhat and they sat there quietly together.

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'And why do I have to start early?' Susan asked Pratt

'Luka's off, Carter's off and Abby's gone AWOL' he answered

'Why?'

He proceeded to tell her what he knew. 

'Oh, has Carter found Abby?' she asked

Pratt answered with a shrug.

'And they named the baby, Janko?' Susan asked unbelievingly.

'Apparently it's Croatian' Malik said joining the conversation

'Oh right' Susan answered.

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'How did you find me?' Abby croaked

'Elimination' Carter answered

'Oh'

'Want to talk about it?'

'I don't know I feel kinda stupid about all that crying really'

'Why?'

'I guess I should be happy, no I am happy for Luka and Sam I really am.....but....but I feel so...um..such...er a failure really... and you know it hurts... I know that there was a time when I couldn't even contemplate having a child.......then the choice was taken away from me....from us'

'We can still have a child if that's what you want'

'We have to both want it. I don't know how to get through this...it was bad enough when we found out that they were having a baby...but know we have to watch him grow, their love for him grow.......knowing that we had a little boy who never knew what life was...knowing that if I was pregnant again....I would be so scared that... that it would happen again...there would be a greater chance of reoccurrence....I don't think I could...we could cope with losing another child, John' 

'We would be more aware next time, I'd watch you like a hawk, everyone would watch out for you, for us, you know that don't you? We would prevent it happening again'

She looked at him with tears and also with hope glistening in her eyes.

'How do you feel?' she asked him

'About Sam and Luka?' he asked and when she nodded he continued 'Sometimes I feel fine, other times I feel sad, for me, for us'

'It just hurts so much. I thought when I lost you, that nothing would ever be as painful, that that was the worst ache and emptiness that I could feel, but then we lost the baby and that was so much worse and then...this...this..This is ten times worse' she said sighing ' I feel all I want to do is cry' and she started crying again.

Carter sat there silently holding his wife, he couldn't bring himself to tell her that everything would be okay, as he wasn't sure it ever would be.

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Chapter 2

May 06

'Hey, What are you hiding in here for?' Susan asked Abby as she entered the lounge.

Abby, who had her back to Susan and was pretending to find something in her locker, didn't turn around.

'Abby' Susan said quietly as she touched her friend's shoulder.

Abby sniffed.

'Are you okay?' Susan asked

Abby wiped her eyes with her finger before turning round.

'Yeah' she sighed 'I'm good'

'If you're 'so good' why are you crying?'

'I don't know really, Sam brought the baby in earlier and it kind of set me off'

'That still bothering you huh' Susan stated

'Mmm. Well I can't stop thinking' she sighed again 'You know..I just feel like I've been crying for weeks and I'm so tired and exhausted, I guess with work and everything'

'Abby' Susan said pondering 'You don't think there's another reason you're feeling so emotional right now'

'No. What else would it be?'

Susan shook her head 'Er..nothing..Um..I was just thinking...'

'So this is where you two are' Carter said entering the lounge and breaking the moment, 'Two MVA's three minutes out, going to help?'

'Okay okay we're coming' Susan replied 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abby finally arrived home; Carter wouldn't be home for a while. She decided to go and have a relaxing soak in a hot bath. Her day had been fraught and she was exhausted. She eagerly climbed into the steaming water with snow-white bubbles and sighed with great relief to be resting her aching body.

She must have nodded off, for suddenly the water was cool and her hands were wrinkly. Hastily she climbed out and reached for a towel, after drying herself off she headed for the adjacent bedroom, where she donned some clean clothes and pottered down stairs to the kitchen.

After scanning the contents of the fridge she decided that she couldn't be bothered to cook and then had a sudden urge to eat rocky road ice cream. She retrieved a spoon and started eating, wandering around the house aimlessly as she did so. She ended up in front of the television and flicked through the channels, looking for something interesting and easy to watch.

Carter found her asleep on the couch when he returned just after midnight. Not wanting to wake her he found a blanket, covered her up and went to bed. When he left for his early shift the following morning she was still curled up there on the couch and he smiled and kissed her as he left the house.

When Abby woke the sun was pouring in the window, groggily she sat up and after a visit to the kitchen and bathroom, came back and sat in front on the television once more.

She decided for some reason to watch a talk show, where women were talking about having babies without even realising they were pregnant. Which Abby found difficult to fully understand for surely you would notice some change in your body, feelings etc. Which got her thinking to herself, when was her last period? She scanned the recesses of her mind and could just not remember. Frustrated with herself she got up and went to look in her diary, after reading it she sat down on the couch with a thump, she hadn't had a period for 6 weeks.

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Chapter 3

May 06

Two weeks, she had known for two weeks and she still hadn't told Carter. Although she was sure he knew something was wrong, she was still emotional, grotty, snapping at him and spending rather a lot of time in the bathroom and surely he must have picked up on this, but still he hadn't said anything. It was time she decided, time to tell him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abby had been a work for an hour before she managed to catch up with Carter.

'Hi' she said walking up to him.

'Hey' he answered turning round to face her, not knowing really what to expect.

'Can we talk later, are you in tonight? I couldn't find your schedule at home'

'I'm in, but you are working 'til tomorrow morning'

'I am?' she queried

'Yeah, I think you agreed to cover Susan last week or something didn't you?'

'I thought that was next week'

'No, it's today'

'Oh' Abby sighed 'What about tomorrow evening then, you in then?, I seem to have lost track or everything, I've had a lot on my mind lately'

'Mmm' Carter agreed 'I've noticed, tomorrow evening sounds fine'

'Good' Abby replied abstractedly

Just then a man shouted along the corridor as he walked towards them 'Dr Carter'

'Yes' replied Carter as the man reached them

The man looked puzzled, 'My wife told me her doctor was female' he said

'Oh right' Carter answered

'That I'll be me then' Abby replied 'Mr....'

The man looked from Carter to Abby and said 'Hunter. Mr Hunter. Are you two brother and sister or what?'

'Husband and wife' Carter informed him

'Why don't you used your maiden name?' he asked Abby as they set off for curtain four.

'It's a long story' she replied

'Okay' Mr Hunter conceded ' Now about my wife...'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Carter found Abby catching up with some reading whilst sitting on the bed.

'Still want that talk?' he asked her, sitting next to her, his head resting against the headboard.

'Oh yeah' she answered putting the medical journal down.

Carter shook his head slightly and said 'Well, what's up?'

Abby looked at him, searching for the right words 'Umm...John..I..er..I'm..'

'Leaving me? He joked

'No, don't' she said 'This is serious'

'Sorry'

Her voice hardly above a whisper said 'I'm pregnant'

Carter did a double take a her and said 'What?'

'I'm pregnant' she repeated, slightly more confident this time.

'You sure?' he asked

'Oh yeah' she answered 'Eight weeks actually'

He looked puzzled and hurt that she hadn't told him sooner and she knew she owed him an explanation. 

'I...I only did a test last week. Two weeks ago a realised I was late, but I couldn't face taking a test, so I pretended that it wasn't really happening, then the morning sickness started and I knew that I couldn't put it off forever. The last couple of weeks, well I haven't seen you much, we've been on opposite shifts most of the time'

'Why didn't you tell me after you took the test?'

'I...I'm just so scared you know, after last..'

'I know' he cut in 'We talked about it after Janko was born. I meant what I said to, we'll be extra careful and vigilant this time, you do want to keep it don't you?'

'I thought about, not keeping it, but I thought this might be our second chance and I don't want to mess things up, I'm so good at that'

He covered her hand with his, stroking it gently 'I'm scared too, scared I'll fail you like I did last time'

'You didn't fail me, I failed both of us. We can't change what happened Carter, we'll never bring our son back'

'No, but we can give this child our love and a place not just in our hearts but, in our lives too'

'I'm sorry, about not telling you sooner'

Carter nodded and replied 'I know, it's okay'

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Chapter 4

June 06

Carter, Abby, Susan and Chuck were sitting round Susan's dining room table after eating a meal together.

'Well' Susan said excitedly as Abby and Carter looked at her 'I have some news, or Chuck and I have some news' looking at her friends mystified faces she continued ' Chuck and I, are getting married, in September'

'Again' Abby said, smiling at her friend

'Yeah, again, we kinda decided that we never should have got it annulled in the first place'

'Congratulations' Carter said

'Yeah, I really pleased for you both' Abby added, looking shyly at Carter who nodded she added 'We've got some news too'

'You're moving to Africa?' guessed Susan

'No' replied Abby

'New York then'

'Not exactly' Carter said

'What then?' Susan queried

'We're going to have a baby' Abby finally said, rather quietly

'Really?' Susan said 

'You think it's a bad idea?' Abby asked

'No. To be honest' she confessed 'I sort of suspected that you might be, but I didn't want to say anything, you know the frequent trips to the bathroom when you thought no one was watching, your extra mood swings, need I go on'

'Oh' Abby answered

'Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you guys' she said

'Had a sonogram?' Chuck asked

Carter pulled a picture out of his wallet and showed them.

'So when are we expecting a patter of tiny feet then?' asked Susan

'Christmas' Abby said

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Susan, Luka, Elizabeth, Yosh, Lydia and Frank were involved in various tasks at the admit desk.

'When did you say, the baby was due?' Luka asked Susan

'Christmas'

' 'Bout the time of her first baby then' stated Lydia

'Yeah, I guess so, but he was due at the beginning of the New Year' Susan replied

'Well as we know who the father is this time, I guess we should run a pool on the sex of the baby' Frank said, continuing 'We still have the money from the other pool on who the father of Abby's other baby was, what should I do with it?'

'You've kept it all this time?' Susan asked

'I thought as the baby died, well I sort of forget about it'

Unbeknown to them Carter had overheard the latter part of the conversation.

Startling them somewhat he asked 'Who did you put down as the father?'

'Oh Carter' Yosh said surprised. 'We didn't see you there'

'Obviously' he replied

'Well' Frank said consulting his notes 'Romano, Ed from security, Dylan from physio and you. You were Luka's choice by the way'

'Give the money to Luka then' Carter said and walked off to talk with a patient.

Everybody stared after him and then Luka said 'I told you so'

'Mmm' Elizabeth said 'I would have said Carter too'

'You would?' said Frank

'Yes' she said remembering how it was between Abby and Carter when he had arrived back from New York, the evening Abby lost the baby.

'Okay' said Frank staring the new pool 'Girl, boy, it's your choice guys'

'My money?' said Luka

'Oh okay' said Frank unwillingly.

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Chapter 5

July 06

'Well, that went well John? When are you heading back to Chicago?' Jack asked Carter

'Tomorrow, 11.30 flight, why?'

'I thought we could go out for dinner tonight'

'Sure, why not, meet you in a couple of hours, I need to take care of a few things'

'Yeah, See you later John'

'Bye Dad'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'John, John!' Jack said trying to catch Carters attention, which wasn't on the meal or his father.

'Did you say something?' Carter asked snapping out of his reverie.

'What's wrong? You seem miles away tonight'

'Er nothing, nothing's up' he answered

'I know you better than that John, something happened with you and Abby?'

Carter let out a long sigh 'Not really, I called her before I came out, she said she's good'

'But you're still worried?' Jack prompted

Carter looked at his father and wondered if he should confide in him, deciding that he might as well he answered 'Scared, I'm scared Dad'

'Of what?'

'Of losing them, you know what happened last time, I scared that it's gonna happen again, especially as I'm away, but when I'm home too'

'Have you told her?'

'No, I can't, I mean she's all up tight about it all, without me telling her how I feel about it'

'I think you should' was his father's only response.

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Since arriving back in Chicago Carter had been thinking about what his father had said in New York, it turned around and around in his mind for days, until he thought he was going to explode. Now he was the snappy, irritable one and he had seen the hurt in Abby's eyes a couple of times when he had brushed her off. It was not good.

He caught up with her eventually on the bench in the garden, her eyes closed where she was enjoying the late evening sunshine. He moved and sat beside her, never taking his eyes off her.

'Hi' she said breaking the silence, but keeping her eyes shut.

'Hey' he replied not knowing where to start, she opened her eyes and reached over and took one of his hands and gently entwined her fingers with his.

'It's okay' she said 'You can tell me'

'Tell you what?' he asked

'What's been bothering you since before you went to New York'

He sighed 'I don't know where to start'

'The beginning' she suggested continuing to play with his fingers

'Abby I....I didn't want to have to say this....but I...you were right.. this is hard, watching you, you and the baby. I guess what I'm trying to say is that....I'm scared Abby'

'I know, me too' she whispered looking at the tears glistening in his eyes 'You know Susan or Jing-Mei take my blood pressure at the beginning and end of every shift I do, they started it when you went to New York'

'Really?'

''Yep. You were right too, our friends are looking out for us' she moved closer to him and hugged him close to her 'I love you' she whispered into his ear, and then he cried.

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Chapter 6

August 06

'Where's Abby?' Susan asked Carter as he came up to the admit desk

'She's gone to a meeting, why?'

'Maggie's called twice'

'Here?'

'Yeah, I think Jerry's fed up of taking messages'

'She'll be here in an hour'

'Not soon enough' Jerry said cutting in 'She sounded weird, well weirder than usual'

'She's not weird, she's .....I hope she's not manic again, that's all Abby needs right now' Carter said quietly to Susan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Abby!' yelled Jerry 'Your Mom's on line two'

Abby who was heading to suture turned round and said 'Okay, I'll take it in the lounge'

'Mom?' she cautiously said into the handset 'What's up?'

'Abby..um...it's Eric' she finally said

'What about Eric? Where is he?, what's he done now?'

'He's gone Abby'

'Gone where?'

'Gone for good'

'Did you have a row, has he left again, I thought he was on his meds?' Abby tried to remain calm but inside she was beginning to panic.

'He was on his meds, but he went out last night with a new girlfriend, now he's not coming back'

'This is not making any sense' Abby said

'As far as I can make out they were up at her place that's when it happened'

'That's when what happened?'

'The fire, they're not sure how it started'

'Who's not sure?' Abby prompted

'The fire department'

'Oh, so where did Eric go?' she asked, trying to clarify the situation.

'They found him, in the building, near the front door' Maggie spoke automatically, 'But it was too late, smoke inhalation they said, Abby, Abby are you still there?'

'Uh huh'

'You will come, won't you?'

'Mmmhuh'

'I can't do this on my own Abby'

Abby pulled herself together and said 'It's okay Mom, I'll be there'

She replaced the handset and stared in to space trying to register all that her Mother had told her. She swallowed hard blinking back the tears that threatened to fall; she had to be strong for Maggie, her Mother.

She wasn't sure how long she had sat there, everything else seemed to be happening around her, and the noise from the ER seemed so far away from inside the lounge. 

Carter found her sitting at the table with her hands over her face; she was still, not moving. He pulled out the adjacent chair and sat down. When she didn't respond he put his hand on her shoulder, gently massaging it, with his fingers.

She sighed and looked at him, controlled now that she had had some time alone. 'He's dead' she said flatly

'Eric?' he asked rather stunned

She nodded, 'I need to get there, for the funeral and everything'

'Have you booked a flight?' he asked warily, she shook her head, he paused 'Want me to?'

'Mmm' was her only reply, she didn't want to cry, not now, not here, but she had to ask him something, she finally said as she looked him straight in the eye 'Come with me?'

He bit his lip and nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abby lay in bed awake, it was after midnight and she still couldn't sleep, even after an exhausting day. They had arrived back in Chicago earlier that evening after a fraught and extremely difficult week with Maggie.

She was just contemplating on getting up and going to make a hot drink when Carter spoke 'Can't sleep?'

'No' she whispered back 'Things keep going round and round'

'You know you really should try' his hand strayed to her slightly rounded stomach.

She looked at him 'What do you think I've been trying to do, sorry, I'm just so tired'

Neither spoke for a while, when he shifted his position to sit up a little she said

'Did I disturb you, I thought you were sleeping?'

'No to both, just resting my eyelids'

'Oh' she sighed, moving closer to him and he slipped his arm around her shoulders. 

'She's doing okay you know, I think she'll cope, stay on her meds, she really wants to be a Grandma' Carter said breaking the silence again

'Yeah, I know. She's a lot stronger than she thinks she is'

'Like someone else I know' he replied with a smile

'John'

'Yeah'

'I still can't believe that after all he went through. I mean he was actually taking his meds and having some treatment and then through an electrical fault, he dies, it's so unfair. He was still so young and had all of his life in front of him' she finally said, tears coming into her eyes. 'I can't deal with this, with Maggie, on my own'

'You're not on your own, I'm not going anywhere'

'You said that before, then you left'

'I'm not leaving this time, things were different then. A whole lot of events hadn't even happened then. Now they have and we've moved on from then, to be who we are today'

She turned and buried her face in his chest and let out the tension and the grief from the past few days. He held her gently and let her cry. Finally she slept and he closed his eyes and joined her in peaceful slumber.

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Chapter 7

Sept 06

'Wow, you look really great' Abby said to Susan, who was ready for her wedding that afternoon.

'Glad you think so' Susan replied 'Why haven't you put the matron of honour's dress on, I'm getting married in like an hour and a half!'

'Yes, well I was sort of hoping you would be so wrapped up in everything else that you wouldn't notice, I wasn't wearing it'

'Why?' Susan asked suspiciously 'Where is it? What's wrong?'

Abby bit her lip and then said 'It doesn't do up'

'It did up last week'

'Well it won't do up now'

'You can't of put that much weight on in seven days'

'Who ever heard of a pregnant matron of honour anyway?' Abby asked 'I'm fat and...well..fat'

'You're not fat you're pregnant and if you hadn't started putting on weight I'd be worried' she paused and said 'Get the dress. Let me look'

'Here' Abby got it out of it's cover and gave it to Susan.

'I meant, put it on and I'll give my opinion'

'I don't think it will do any good, I'm not a dressy person at the best of times'

'Abby, just wear it will you'

'Okay' she relented and put the dress on. 'See, there is no way that this will do up' and she pulled the sides together, as far as they would go.

Susan stood there pondering 'Well, there's not time to alter it and you're right it really doesn't do up' Abby gave her friend I told you so look. 'What did you eat in the last week, a horse?'

They hunted around in Susan cupboard and finally located a cream coloured stole. Susan arranged it on Abby's shoulders. 'If we pin the dress together and you don't take this off, I think you'll get away with it, don't look at me like that, you're wearing the dress and that's final. It's my wedding'

'Okay, okay, let's just get on with it' Abby finally agreed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day went well with no hitches although Abby felt very self-conscious in the dress. The main thing was that Susan and Chuck enjoyed themselves and finally left for a honeymoon in Antigua.

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Chapter 8

October 06

She sat by the tree; it was a cold day and the wind whipped round her face as she sat on the bench. Today he would have been two, two years old and a big brother for the child within her. She felt relieved that this time she had made it passed the 25 weeks she had been when he, their son died.

She was supposed to be resting she thought. Luka sent her home earlier today as her BP was up slightly, and was it any wonder, after the strain of Eric's accidental death and the stress of Susan's wedding, well that had been happy stress as opposed to draining stress of Eric. Oh how she missed him.

Work was tiring her though and after she had fainted in trauma last week, Kerry had insisted that she could only return to work if she cut out trauma patients and worked only basic shifts with no overtime. Which meant she had more time to dwell on the negative things that might happen, but also gave her time to relax, if she could get comfortable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Abby not on today?' Connie asked Carter

'No' was his curt reply

'Everything okay' asked Neela

'Yeah' Carter answered

'You okay?' asked Connie

'Yeah' Carter said

'You're very talkative today Dr Carter' Connie said teasing him

Carter looked up from the chart he was writing on 'Today, is the anniversary'

'It thought you'd got married in December' Randi said joining the conversation

Carter bit his lip and looking at her said 'The baby was born and died two years ago today'

'Oh sorry' said Randi looking at the other staff members at the admit desk 'I forgot about that'

'How's Abby doing?' Luka asked coming up to the desk, missing the first part of the conversation 

'She's fine' Carter replied

'You bought everything, for the baby yet?'

'No, nothing'

'Nothing?'

'Abby wanted to wait, until...until she got past 26 weeks, after last time and everything' Carter finally blurted out. His gazed shifted over all of them who were looking at him concerned. 'Some of us actually have work to do' he said as he walked off

'I think I put my feet in that' commented Luka

'Foot' corrected Neela

'Whatever' Luka replied

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Chapter 9

Nov 06 

'This is so cute' Abby said holding up a little red Christmassy outfit.

'Don't you think we've bought enough' Carter replied 'Besides we're not sure whether it's a boy or girl'

'But this could be worn by either' Abby said pleadingly

'Okay' Carter relented 'We'll buy this too' and he added it to the rather large pile

'Maybe we should get the next size up' Abby suggested

'Not if we want our kid to wear it this Christmas'

'But the baby's due on Christmas day, chances are it won't be born then'

'Mmm, but I don't think that 3-6months will fit next Christmas do you?' he queried

'Okay let's get newborn size and a bigger size for some of this other stuff' Abby answered, putting her hand to the small of her back and rubbing there.

'What's wrong?' Carter asked immediately concerned.

'Nothing, just backache'

'Your sure?'

'Sure I'm sure, it's all this extra weight I'm carrying around, you should try it sometime'

Carter raised his eyebrows and smiled 'Yeah, right' he replied

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carter and Abby stood in the completed Nursery, which although done in a hurried fashion. looked beautiful.

'Four weeks to go' Carter said standing behind Abby and hugging both her and the baby. 'Wow! Did you feel that he kicked'

Abby looked up at him and replied 'If I couldn't feel that then I think I might have a slight problem'

Carter reddened 'Sure, sorry'

'You know it might be sooner' Abby said

Carter looked at Abby alarmed and she continued 'or later than four weeks'

'Oh' said Carter feeling relieved 'I was beginning to think you meant like now'

'There's no running away now Carter' she said 'I mean, it's really going to happen, this time'

'I know' he replied 'I haven't been on this end of things before, except well....and I'm starting to empathise with all those fathers I've dealt with a work now'

Abby smiled and leaned back into his embrace, then she asked 'You still scared?'

'A little, you?'

'Some'

'I think it's going to be okay, don't you?'

'Mmmm' she answered, turning her head upwards towards his and kissing him. They moved as close to each other as was possible in the circumstances, that was until the baby kicked again and they broke apart laughing.

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Chapter 10

December 06 

23rd December

'Where's the Carters today?' Malik asked Susan as they tended to Mrs Mullinger, an elderly lady with alziemers.

'It's their wedding anniversary, they went away'

'And the baby's almost due?' queried Malik

'Oh, they've only gone away for the night, I don't know where Carter wouldn't say'

'Carter John as opposed to Carter Abby'

'Of course'

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25th December 06

'You still here?' Lydia asked Abby

'Yeah, thought I might as well work my shift, as nothings happened yet'

'You don't want to spend the time with Carter'

'He's in later, but having lunch with his Mother, somehow work seemed more appealing'

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27th December 06

'Didn't expect to you today?' Sam said to Abby

'Still here, a big fat lump' Abby replied

'I just say I've forgotten what you looked like slim' Sam continued

'Thanks a lot'

'I'm kidding'

'Oh okay I'm just getting...'

'Fed up?'

'Yeah'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

29th December 06

'Where's Abby?' Susan asked Carter

'She's gone to a meeting, then she's supposed to be resting, after what happened yesterday' Carter replied

'Why? What happened? Nobody told me anything?'

'She passed out in triage. Kerry told her not to come back until her maternity leave had expired'

'Oh' Susan replied

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

31st December 06 6pm

'County' Frank bellowed into the phone 'Oh yeah, hang on' turning to Pratt he asked 'Seen Carter?'

'Stuck in triage' Pratt answered

'Get him, Abby's on line one'

'I'm a doctor not some errand boy'

'Now' said Frank urgently 'We don't want her having the baby at home'

'Right' Yeah' answered Pratt heading off to locate Carter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 11

31st December 06

10am

Carter had left over two hours previously for his 12-hour shift while Abby was still asleep. In actual fact she had been awake half the night trying to find a comfortable position. Then when she had she then had to get up and go and pee, but she finally fell asleep around three.

Now it was 10am and as she pottered round the kitchen she decided she felt, well it was hard to describe really, but felt similar to period cramps with backache. Thinking that it was probably Braxton Hicks contractions again, even though she was a week overdue, she decided to get some fresh air and walk around the garden.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Midday

It had been freezing outside, but exhilarating. She sat down and tried to get comfortable but the nagging backache just would not subside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2pm

This was better she thought as she lay in the bath, the warm water lapping against her body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4pm

The relaxed feeling she'd had in the bath hadn't lasted long once she had gotten out. Her backache was becoming more intense. But her waters hadn't broken, the contractions were still mild and she hadn't even had a show. She thought about calling John but decided it was probably too soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

6pm

Well the contractions had definitely started now she decided and she was alone in a very big house. Suddenly she felt a slow trickle down her legs, she knew she had to call Carter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8pm

They had been at the hospital a little over an hour. Carter was still rather miffed she hadn't called him earlier, even though she had pointed out that before 6pm nothing had really happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10pm

The doctor had just informed them that everything was going okay and that she had probably been dilating all day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Midnight

Whilst everyone else was celebrating the New Year Abby was struggling with the contractions which ravaged her body, she was vaguely aware of Carter by her side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2am 1st January 07

'Push down' the doctor said

'I am pushing down' thought Abby 'I don't think I'll ever tell another patient in labour your not pushing hard enough again' her thoughts rambled and she hoped she hadn't voiced them out loud.

'And again' the doctor continued

Abby squeezed Carters hand and he looked at her with a pained expression on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3am

Finally the baby, a daughter was laid upon her stomach. Abby felt the tears well up in her eyes and as she looked at Carter she saw he was crying too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5am

'She's beautiful' Carter whispered as Abby fed their dark haired daughter.

Abby looked at him 'I love you' she said

Kissing first his daughter then his wife he replied 'I love you too, both of you'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10am

Jing-Mei, Luka, Frank, Chuny and Kerry were at the admit desk when Susan returned from OB.

'Well?' asked Chuny

'Born 2.57am, 6lb 10oz and looks like her Mom, lots of dark hair'

'Have they named her?' Kerry asked

'Sure have. Hope Millicent. Hope for the future and Millicent, and these are Carters words not mine 'Millicent in memory of a cantankerous old lady who I loved more than my own Mother' unquote' quoted Susan

'I thought they might have called her Erica' Jing-Mei said

Susan replied 'Still a bit raw for Abby, to be calling the baby after brother, she still misses him you know'

'So' said Chuny 'I guess you have to pay up now on the pool Frank, you can't keep the money like last time'

'I didn't keep the money, I gave it to Luka'

'Eventually' Luka said

'You know' said Susan 'Hope was born on the exact day, but two years later than when their first baby was due'

'No kidding? ' Said Frank

'Sure, their little boy was due on January 1st 2005, life is really odd' Susan said pondering on this issue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 12

March 07

He watched as she slept in his arms. He would never tire of holding her; her soft hair was dark and smelt uniquely of her. Her eyelids fluttered, she opened them and gazed up at him, as he softly kissed the top of her head. Her eyelids drooped and she fell into slumber once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was never alive

Til the day I was blessed with you

When I hold you late at night

I know what I was put here to do

I turn off the world

And listen to you sigh

And I will sing my angels lullaby

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abby stood in the doorway watching Father and daughter sleep. It was late and she knew that if John stayed there much longer he would be complaining of backache the next day. They looked so perfect together. The two people who made her life complete.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Know I'm forever near

The one you can always call

Right now all you know to fear

Are the shadows on your wall

And I'm here close enough

To kiss the tears you cry

And I will sing my angels lullaby

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gently she touched his shoulder and he slowly opened his eyes and looked deep into hers.

'It's late' she whispered

He moved causing Hope to stir slightly as he gently laid her in her crib.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So tell me how to stop the years from racing

Is there a secret someone knows

I'll never catch all the memories I'm chasing

I'll never be ready to let you go

And when the world seems cold

You feel that all your strength is gone

There maybe one tiny voice

Your reason to carry on

And when I'm not close enough

To kiss the tears you cry

You will sing your angels lullaby

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They stood watching her, their hands entwined, backing out of the room they made their way to theirs.

He touched her back and gently moved her towards the bed, covering her mouth with his in a slow sensual kiss. While their daughter slept soundly her parents shared their love for each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let this be our angels lullaby

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The End

AN Angels Lullaby by Richard Marx

Please let me know if you have enjoyed my Invincible trilogy.


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